Dead pigeons at Broken Hill may have been poisoned

Birds found dead at Broken Hill in NSW. (ABC Broken Hill: Bill Ormonde)

Investigations are underway to find out why more than 80 birds were found dead near the centre of Broken Hill.

The cause is a mystery, but some locals believe the birds may have been deliberately targeted.

Helen Semmers from the Rescue and Rehabilitation of Australian Native Animals (RRANA) said the birds were found bleeding from their mouths and nostrils.

"It's usually indicative of some sort of poison," Ms Semmens said.

A dead pigeon that fell from the sky.  (ABC Broken Hill: Bill Ormonde)

She said the alarm was raised when people reported "pigeons falling off of power lines at the intersection of Kaolin and Blende street."

A confronting scene 

When volunteers arrived to try to save the birds, they were confronted with a "horrific" scene.

"Not only were there a number of dead birds lying on the road, a number of them had been run over by vehicles," Ms Semmens said.

Of the 84 birds killed, the majority were found in the surrounding streets.

Twenty-two were found on the Broken Hill High School grounds, while a number were also discovered at the TAFE building and at the site of the new police station.

The concern for organisations like RRANA is that if the birds were poisoned, they could pose a significant risk for native species if they were not collected immediately.

Helen Semmens and another volunteer collect the dead birds.  (ABC Broken Hill: Bill Ormonde)

"What is eating them is native birds such as crows and hawks that come along, and some falcons," Ms Semmens said.

"If the bodies are left overnight, or for a week, it could be somebody's pet cat or somebody's pet dog, and they could ingest the poison that these birds have ingested.

Tests are being undertaken on one of the birds at the Broken Hill Local Land Services veterinary practice.